Quake Relief Shows Israel Feels Deeply For Turkey

By STEPHEN KINZER

Published: August 28, 1999

ADAPAZARI, Turkey, Aug. 26—
Amid the scenes of horror and death that have afflicted this city since the earthquake last week, the brightest sign of life is a field hospital operated by doctors and nurses from the Israeli Army.

Eight babies have been born here since the quake. One boy was named Israel, and one girl is called Ziona. Their names are symbols of how firmly the earthquake has sealed the alliance between Israel and Turkey.

''God bless the Israelis,'' said one new mother, Serap Balcioglu, whose child was born blue and seemingly lifeless but was revived by an emergency team at the hospital. ''They're taking beautiful care of me. What would we do without them?''

Over the last few years, Israel and Turkey have built a strategic partnership that has altered the face of Middle East politics. Trade and tourism are booming in both directions. Israeli pilots practice maneuvers in Turkish airspace, and Israeli technicians are modernizing Turkish combat jets. There are plans for Israel to share its high-tech skills with Turkey, and for Turkey to send some of its plentiful fresh water to Israel.

Military commanders, Cabinet ministers and business leaders agree that this new friendship makes good sense for both parties. But it took the earthquake to show that it has become more than political -- and has clearly taken deep root among ordinary people.

''There has been so much tourism and so many business and political contacts between the two countries in the last few years that almost everyone in Israel feels some kind of personal connection to Turkey,'' said Benjamin Krasna, an Israeli diplomat who has spent much of the last week working on earthquake relief projects. ''You pick up a 16-page newspaper in Tel Aviv and 6 pages are about the quake. It shows what Turkey means to Israel today. Israel sees Turkey as a neighbor, a brother, a partner.''

''We've sent relief teams to help after disasters in plenty of countries, and our people support that,'' Mr. Krasna said. ''But those other disasters didn't provoke the same emotional response among our people. Things have changed because of the nature of our relationship with Turkey.''

Israel was one of the first countries to respond to news of the earthquake, which devastated Adapazari and much of the surrounding area. It sent 350 search-and-rescue specialists with teams of dogs. They were at work the morning after the quake, and in the days that followed they found and saved 12 buried people.

The hospital team followed quickly, and set up operations in the muddy front yard of a damaged official building here. Doctors and nurses treated hundreds of earthquake victims, and now that the initial trauma is past they are dealing with infections, broken limbs and all the other medical problems that are normal in a community of 300,000 people.

Israeli officials are now discussing the possibility of sponsoring long-term earthquake relief projects in Turkey. They may build a town to replace one of those that were destroyed, or perhaps assume responsibility for rebuilding hospitals in the affected area. Top officials of the Foreign and Defense Ministries, accompanied by the director general of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office, have already been here to survey Turkey's needs.

''Israelis are absolutely obsessed with the earthquake,'' said Barry Rubin, an Israeli scholar who has written extensively about the Turkish-Israeli relationship.

''There's a psychological as well as a political reason for this,'' Mr. Rubin said. ''Jews and Turks have historically been thought of as outsiders, especially in Europe. They are two peoples who are extremely conscious of who their friends are. But even though I've been following this subject for 10 years, I'm amazed at how many messages I've received since the earthquake. Israelis want to know what they can do to help, and Turks want to say how grateful they are.''

Not everyone in Turkey considers Israel an ideal partner. Some leaders of the Islamic political movement have suggested that Muslim countries, including traditional enemies of Israel like Iran and Libya, would be more suitable.

Many Turks feel a solidarity with Palestinians, and are deeply disturbed when they see pictures of Israeli soldiers shooting at or beating Palestinian protesters in the West Bank. Others complain that Israel has not been vigorous enough in its condemnation of Kurdish rebels who have been fighting the Turkish Army for years.

But the relationship between Turkey and Israel is no longer the province only of generals, politicians and corporate executives, but of the peoples of both countries.

''After what has happened since the earthquake,'' said Hasan Koni, a professor of international relations at Ankara University, ''it's going to be very hard for anyone to criticize the relationship. Even people who have been suspicious of Israel must now see that after the United States, Israel has become the country we can trust most. That is now clearer than ever.''

Photos: The earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey last week has brought the country's close relationship with Israel into sharper focus. At an Israeli-run field hospital in Adapazari, two youngsters received treatment. Operating in a room that used to be an office, Israeli surgeons in an Adapazari field hospital worked to repair nerves in the arm of a boy who had been unearthed from the rubble of his family's house. (Photographs by Staton R. Winter for The New York Times) Map of Turkey highlighting Adapazari: Adapazari is the site of an Israeli-operated field hospital.